Hollywood not scared off by talk of J-horror's death

J-horror is dead.

J-horror has never been bigger.

Banking on the success of two American remakes of Japanese films, "The Ring" and "The Grudge," Hollywood has at least 16 more remakes of so-called J-horror films in various stages of acquisition, production and release: a major gamble on a minor genre.

During the late '90s, the Asian cinema — not just Japanese — produced a bunch of deliciously surreal and creepy flicks, including "Tomie" (she's so lovable, you're compelled to kill her) and "Phone," about the cellphone from hell ("Can you hear me now? Good: You're about to d-d-d ... aaagh!!").

Even as the phenomenon is being promoted in Everytown USA (the next remake, of Kiyoshi Kurosawa's "Pulse," opens July 14), cineastes and critics say the original J-horror mini-movement is over. Kaput. R.I.P.

Yet the transformation of the genre from cult to cash cow has had one great side effect: It has opened up the home video market to obscure Asian titles, many of which are available from small distributors, including Tartan Films USA and Media Blasters.

Tartan U.S. president Tony Borg said his Asia Extreme line, launched in January 2005, appeals to the "17- to 28-year-old video gamer, anime fan and Maxim magazine reader ... The demographic is very young, hip, cool and edgy."

Term coined by fans

The term J-horror was, according to filmmaker and critic Nicholas Rucka, slapped onto a few, hard-to-categorize Japanese imports such as "Ringu," "Ju-On" and "Seance" by fans. The '90s movies seriously wigged out horror devotees with their gruesome, weirdly paced stories of ghosts most sorrowful and vengeful.

Rucka, who writes for Midnight Eye, an online journal about Japanese film, said the movies eschewed computer-generated effects, instead relying on great lighting, cinematography and offbeat stories.

In contrast to Western tales, which are "logic- and morality-bound," Japanese yarns presuppose "a belief that spirits inhabit most everything, from inanimate objects to living creatures," Rucka said. So there's need to explain the haunting, and the story can give a deeper sense of the ghost's psychology and its interaction with the world.

He said the success of the American version of "The Ring" in 2002 pushed the Japanese industry — which had already exhausted the genre — to keep cranking out identical films about "vengeful ghosts (with) long stringy black hair, impossible physical gymnastics, meowing little ghost boys, cursed videos or cellphones or computers ... "

The effects-driven "Ring," he said, was just too excessive. It "missed the point. The original was restrained, subtle, atmospheric ... because that actually heightened the tension and the horror."

"The Grudge" a hard sell

"I say humbug to the whole 'J-horror is dead' thing!' " said Hollywood screenwriter Stephen Susco, who wrote the screenplay for the remake of "The Grudge" and "The Grudge 2," due out in October. Susco said he conceived of "The Grudge" as a small-budget homage to the Japanese original. But he had a hard time selling the idea in early 2002.

"Studio execs ... are baffled by Asian horror, which is so unique and unconventional," he said. "Right, there's no happy ending," he said, in imitation of the pitch to a studio exec. "And, no, you can never kill the bad creature; and, yep, the film has a lot of spiritual stuff."

Fast-forward a few months to October 2002, when "The Ring" racked up $129 million at the U.S. box office. "Everybody," Susco said, "started calling us again."

DVDs offer hope

"Thank God for the rise of the DVDs, because that way people can at least see those movies," Susco said.

Media Blasters' Richard York exudes optimism, with reason. Launched in 1998, his "Tokyo Shock" line has more than 125 titles in extreme genres, such as horror, action, gangster and samurai films. Its films include "Bushinsaba," by "Phone" director Byeong-ki Ahn, and Takashi Ishii's deeply disturbing film about a woman seeking revenge on her three rapists, "Freeze Me."

The "Asia Extreme" line, which has 28 titles, is a series of gorgeously packaged DVDs, including the fabulously melodramatic Korean schoolgirls ghost story, "Whispering Corridors," and its two sequels; Shinya Tsukamoto's "Tetsuo: The Ironman" and his heart-rending tone poem about a med student who has to dissect his ex-lover, "Vital"; and "Marebito," the first truly great film by "Grudge" director Takashi Shimizu.